Architect Brian MacKay-Lyons and a model of the structure built during Ghost Five. Photo: Mark Buckley

Dal architect's workshop is a critique of architectural education

Brian MacKay-Lyons' two-week annual workshops aim to revive the master-apprentice tradition.

A sparse wood frame draped in white fabric. An entire structure illuminated from the inside. A vision here one moment and gone forever, like a ghost.

This is what inspired the name of a two-week annual workshop conducted by architect and Dalhousie University professor Brian MacKay-Lyons, where participants design and build a structure collaboratively.

"The Ghost Lab began as a critique of architectural education," says MacKay-Lyons. "It represents an alternative to the current standard of practice."

Realizing the importance of hands-on experience in architecture, MacKay-Lyons decided to fill what he saw as a void.

"Professional programs have become distant from the master-apprentice tradition," he says. "Students wind up with teachers who have never worked in the field."

Many employers only consider applicants with practical experience and a lot of schools only provide students with theory. MacKay-Lyons advocates a pragmatic approach to education.

In 1994 he took nine of his students to a plot of land on the coast near Lunenburg, with a nearly 400-year-old stone ruin. This became the site of Ghost.

The workshop has come a long way since its inception. What started with those involved housed in tents, equipped with only a few basic tools and materials, eventually had an international following.

While most attendees are practicing and aspiring architects, Ghost has seen its share of outsiders. It's open to anyone willing to pay the $4,000 registration fee, which covers materials, guest lecturers, accommodation and catering.

MacKay-Lyons says projects such as this are seldom found in schools or even in the early years of practice.

"It is an intense two weeks but everyone wants to be there," says Etienne Lemay, who participated in Ghost 5 in 2003. "We learned a lot from Brian about what he has encountered in his years of practice."

Students work with an established architect, a structural engineer and a master builder.

Many structures were designed with the intent of leaving nothing behind. There is no trace of the first six Ghost structures.

This changed in 2005, when it was clear there was a need to build permanent structures. Ghost was drawing in people from all over the world, so MacKay-Lyons decided he could no longer have everyone camping in tents.

Last year's tenth anniversary was marked with the publication of Brian MacKay-Lyons' book Ghost: Building an Architectural Vision.

It documents the origin and development of the project. The first nine Ghost workshops are showcased with illustrations and detailed commentaries.

Ghost held its eleventh workshop in July and MacKay-Lyons is already planning Ghost 12 in 2010.

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